Death in LA
by BatmanLoonaticsFan96
Summary: When Hannah joins a sitcom and Castle, Beckett, Alexis, Ryan, and Esposito go to LA for winter break, Hannah's co-stars start turning up dead and Castle and Beckett dive into the case...
1. Vacation's Not What I Wanted

Death in LA

OK, this takes place during the third season of Castle and shortly after "It's the End of the Jake as We Know It" (assuming said episode took place around Christmastime).

Chapter 1: Vacation's Not What I Wanted

Alexis Castle was the first one up at her place. She yawned as she walked down the stairs in her pajamas, brushing her bright red hair along the way. Finally, she came to the bottom floor of the apartment and walked into the kitchen. No one else was up. She looked around. Nobody there. She smiled, mischievously… She laid her brush down on the island and opened the fridge. She yanked out the chocolate milk carton and started drinking right out of it.

"Alexis, have you seen my—WHOA!" Her father, Richard Castle, had just come down the stairs and seen her crazy breakfast antics.

Alexis quickly put the carton back and faced him.

"Great, now I have to go get more!"

Alexis closed the fridge. "I'm sorry! I didn't—"

"Hey, don't worry about me. It's your grandma I'm worried about."

Alexis smiled.

"Is someone talking about me?" asked Castle's mom, Martha, as she came down the stairs.

"Actually, yes," said Castle, "I was wondering if you could watch Alexis for a few days."

"What?" Alexis asked.

Castle looked at her. "Well, see, Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito are all going to LA for winter break and they were wondering if I'd go with them, so I said yes. So someone has to watch you—"

"Take me with you!" Alexis cried, "I'm out of school and it is so stinking _COLD_ here around Christmastime and there's this new TV series that's shooting starting this week and it's featuring Hannah Montana and I so wanted to see a taping—"

"If you wanna go, why don't you just say so?" asked her dad.

"I can go?"

"Absolutely."

Alexis squealed and ran over to hug him. "Thank you so much, Dad! I love you!"

"Are you sure you don't wanna take me with you?" asked her grandmother.

"WHOA!" both of them cried.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Castle said, "I mean, someone has to watch the house and you have your shows to do—"

"OK, OK, I get it, but are you sure you don't wanna stay with me? I can take you shopping to buy some nice new loafers?"

Alexis and Castle both just stared at her.

She sighed. "Fine, LA it is." She walked off.

Alexis squealed again and squeezed her father tighter.

_Meanwhile…_

_In LA…_

Miley Stewart walked onto the set of _Teen Queen_ and looked around. She pulled a little box out of her bag and ran off to her dressing room. When she came out, she was a blonde with a single pink glove. She was Hannah Montana. She walked over to the backstage area to meet her co-stars.

The first one she ran into was a brown-haired girl with light blue eyes. "Hannah! I am such a big fan."

"And I am such a big fan of you! I have all your CD's and I loved every episode of _My Life with a Martian_."

She smiled and flared her mini-skirt. "Thank you. And I have all your CD's and I loved _Indiana Joannie_!"

Before the conversation could keep going, the director's voice sounded over the PA: _"Hannah Montana and Kirsten Collis, please report to the stage."_

"Guess that's us," said Kirsten, pulling her off to the set.

They met the director, Archie Collis, on the set with 4 other girls.

"Hi, honey," said Archie, hugging Kirsten.

"Hi, Daddy!" she said, hugging him back.

"The director's your father?" Hannah asked.

"You didn't know that?"

"Just be thankful you got the lead and not her," said a blonde (darker blonde) with lighter blue eyes than both girls, "Shows there's no nepotism on set."

"Exactly," said Archie, "I awarded you guys your parts based on your talent. My daughter's current acting career has nothing to do with her place as the third most important role."

"Hello, Archie," Hannah said, "_Lead_ actress, ready to meet the rest of the cast."

Archie stopped hugging his daughter. "Right! Right. Alright, the wisecracking blonde here is Orchid Rivers. This pretty little lady…" He gestured to a reddish-brunette girl with teddy-bear-brown eyes. "…is Jocelyn Winters. This…" He gestured to a girl with reddish-brown hair and green eyes. "…is Persephone Hill. This…" He gestured to a strawberry blonde with greenish-violet eyes (rare color). "…is Viviana Cape. And this…" He gestured at nothing. "…is…" He noticed he was gesturing at nothing. "Alright, where is she?"

"Hello, everyone!"

Hannah recognized that voice coming from the door she'd entered from. "Oh, sweet nibblets!" When the studio had called and offered her the job, she'd neglected to check to see who was co-starring. She slowly turned to see a brunette with sunglasses, a chic handbag, and a tiny terrier walk up to the stage.

"Sorry I'm late. Limo got stuck in traffic." She took off her sunglasses and looked at Hannah. "I even had to—oh, it's you."

"Well, I see that called in a witch to play the witch."

"For your information, I'm supposed to be the second most important role."

"Oh, good, 'cause your number 2 in my book!"

Mikayla glared at her, openmouthed.

"Oh, so you've met Mikayla before?" asked Orchid.

"Unfortunately," Hannah said.

Mikayla smirked and put her sunglasses back on. She slammed her handbag into Miley's stomach. "Go put this in my dressing room."

"I'm not your assistant, I'm your co-star!"

Mikayla scoffed, lifting her sunglasses. "That's hard to believe the way you're dressed."

"Hey!" Archie snapped, breaking their fight, "I need you guys to be nice to each other on this set. You're supposed to play best friends."

"I quit." Mikayla started to leave.

Archie pulled her back. "You are not quitting. Now you 2 are going to work it out or you're both fired. If I see you 2 so much as glare, you're out! Got it?"

"Fine," Mikayla groaned.

"I'll try, but you might wanna get hers in writing," said Hannah.

Archie glared at her.

Hannah smiled. "OK, starting now, we'll be good!"

Archie nodded and walked off.

Mikayla looked at Hannah. "If he _sees_ us go bad, we're out. I still hate you."

Hannah glared at her, squeezing her bag. "Like I care." She handed the bag back. "Enjoy your knock-off."

Mikayla grabbed the bag and got ready to hit her with it.

"Oh, one more thing!" Archie came back.

Mikayla hid her bag behind her back.

"I have a surprise for you girls. Guess who's playing Hannah and Mikayla's boyfriends?" He gestured to the assistants to open the doors and in walked 2 blonde boys with bright brown eyes.

Mikayla took off her sunglasses and smiled, wide-eyed.

Hannah started fanning herself off, excitedly.

"That's Ryder and Rocky Reese!" Mikayla cried.

"It _is_ Rocky and Ryder Reese." Hannah was now _so_ glad that she'd broken up with Jake.

The twins walked up.

"Hey, girls," said Ryder.

"We're really excited to be working with you," said Rocky.

Both girls looked at each other and squealed.

"Yeah," said Archie, "Ryder will be dating Hannah and Rocky will be dating Mikayla."

"WHAT?" both girls cried.

"Is there a problem?"

"What? No!" Mikayla said.

"Of course not!" Hannah said, "There's no problem." Archie and the twins walked off. "Problem."

"Yeah…well, break a leg!" Mikayla walked off. Then she came back. "Literally."

Hannah stared after her, angrily. Then the director looked, so she stopped and smiled.


	2. No Fun in Malibu

Chapter 2: No Fun in Malibu

Castle, Alexis, Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito loaded onto a plane.

"Remind me again why we can't fly in first class?" asked Castle, leaning over the seats to put down his laptop case and then bending back up and hitting his head on the baggage rail.

"Are you OK, Dad?" Alexis asked.

"I'm fine," Castle responded, rubbing his head.

Alexis patted him and started going through her bag.

"While you're rich and famous, Castle," said Beckett, "some of us can't afford tickets in first class."

"I could've paid for you!" Castle pointed out.

Ryan dropped his bags on the floor of the aisle. "You couldn't have said that _before_ we had to get poked and prodded in the entry line because we had brought our metal badges?"

"Sorry." Castle quickly sat down.

Alexis sighed and sat down next to him, pulling out her iPod and turning on "If We Were a Movie" before getting out her laptop.

Beckett sat down directly behind Alexis.

Ryan and Esposito sat down next to each other in front of Castle and Alexis.

Ryan turned around when he heard Alexis humming to the music. "Is that Hannah Montana?"

Alexis nodded.

"Can I listen?"

"Sure." Alexis handed him the right ear bud.

He took it and started listening to the music. "I wonder if the in-flight movie's gonna be _Indiana Joannie_."

"I hope so, I loved that movie! And Chase Crawford is so cute."

"Yeah, but I liked the part…"

"Are we gonna have to put up with this girl talk the whole way 6 hours?" asked Beckett.

"Most likely," Castle and Esposito both said.

Beckett groaned and leaned back in her seat.

_Back in LA…_

The shooting session had started. Hannah was now playing the part of Phoebe Keller and Mikayla was her best friend, Hawaii Lore. Kirsten was Phoebe's sister, Telly Keller; Orchid was Yvette Bon; Jocelyn was Peony Pommels; Persephone was Onyx Pommels; and Viviana was Leda Pommels. Ryder and Rocky played Parker and Prosper Pommels. The story of the show was basically that Phoebe and Hawaii were crushing on twins who didn't know they existed and they continuously have to deal with the twins' sisters—Peony, Onyx, and Leda—who are basically the cool girls and don't want Phoebe and Hawaii to date their brothers. Meanwhile, Phoebe has to deal with her spunky, nerdy little sister, Telly, and _her_ best friend, Yvette.

Phoebe sat down on her bed.

Hawaii was pacing in front her. "What to do? What to do?"

"Let's face it, Why, they're not gonna go out with us. Even if we could corner Parker and Prosper to ask them out, Peony, Onyx, and Leda would probably…I don't know, drop baked beans on us!"

The audience laughed.

Hawaii sighed, pacing the other way, and started rubbing her scalp. "Don't remind me, I'm still washing yogurt out of my hair."

The audience laughed again.

Phoebe sighed. "I don't know what to do." Suddenly, her eyes widened and she started smiling. "Hey!" Hawaii stopped pacing and faced her. "That's it!" She stood up. "Telly!"

"Telly?"

"Telly!"

"Your sister, Telly?"

"Do we know any other Telly?"

The audience laughed again.

Phoebe started rubbing her hands together. "She can mess with them long enough for us to get that double date…"

[cut]

Telly was in her room, sitting at her desk and rewiring the remote on her RC whirlybird. Hawaii and Phoebe were standing by her dresser, Hawaii leaning against it. "So let me get this straight. The 2 of you need me to distract these 3 so that you can ask out and go on date with their brothers."

"Yes, now can you do it?" asked Phoebe.

Telly stopped fiddling with her toy helicopter and turned to them. "Fine, but there's a condition."

"Isn't there always?" Hawaii asked no one in particular.

The audience laughed.

Telly smiled and got up from her chair. "You 2 have to take me and Yvette and a shopping date all day on Saturday and pay for everything we buy."

"No deal! That's insane!" Phoebe cried.

"Fine. I distract them during your date, but not when your asking them out and you give us 2 hours at one mall and split the check."

Hawaii and Phoebe looked at each other in consideration. "Deal."

[cut.]

2 people sat on a bench in the school, their legs crossed and magazines hiding their faces.

The 3 sisters walked by.

"I could've sworn I saw them coming down this hall not 2 minutes ago," said Leda.

"That doesn't matter right now," said Onyx.

"Yes, it does!" Peony snapped, "Those 2 are blockheads, they're klutzy, they're nerds—all-in-all, they're a horrible catch, and we're not subjecting our brothers to that."

All 3 walked off.

The 2 girls put down their magazines to reveal themselves as Hawaii and Phoebe in fedoras, sunglasses, and denim jackets. They threw their magazines in a trash bin and raced to take of their sunglasses and stuff them in their hats. They opened their adjacent lockers and threw in their hats, sunglasses, and jackets and then slammed the doors shut, revealed their matching sparkly tops.

"Looking good," said Hawaii.

"Oh, no, you're the one that looks good," said Phoebe.

"Alright, we can do the back-and-forth thing later. We need to find the twins and ask them out before the girls find us."

The 2 looked down a hall and then tip-toed 2 steps…and raced down the hall as fast as possible. They kept running and running until they finally ran into someone. They got up and saw that they'd run into Peony, Onyx, and Leda. They all looked at one another for a few seconds… They all scrambled up and Hawaii and Phoebe jumped on them. They pushed them down and kept running down the hall, the cool girls following a ways behind, until finally they came to the turn of the hall leading to the twins' lockers. The girls fixed their hair and strode down that hall to the boys. When they boys closed their lockers, they revealed Phoebe and Hawaii standing there.

"Hey, boys," said Hawaii, casually.

"Hey, girls," said Prosper.

"So," said Phoebe, "we were kind of wondering if you guys might wanna go out on Friday night."

"Sure, why not?" asked Parker.

The girls smiled at each other.

Peony then showed up with Onyx and Leda. "There they are!"

The girls kept running. Peony, Onyx, and Leda jumped on them halfway down the hall.

Prosper and Parker looked at each other, wondering about the girls' antics.

"And cut!"

Hannah, Mikayla, Jocelyn, Persephone, and Viviana all got up.

"You were great!" Hannah told Jocelyn, Persephone, and Viviana.

"Thanks, Hannah," said Jocelyn.

"You were great," said Persephone.

"It's hard but we manage," said Viviana.

Hannah looked at Mikayla. "Now you I'm not so certain about."

Mikayla glared at her. "You know what, _Phoebe_?" Hannah rolled her eyes. "I just gotta say—"

"Great work, girls!" Archie came up. Hannah and Mikayla came to attention, stopping their fight immediately. "Now take a break and we'll shoot the second half."

"Thanks, Archie!" Mikayla called after him. As soon as he was gone, she stopped smiling completely. "I still hate you."

"Little too late for that, _Hawaii_." Hannah walked off.


	3. Welcome to the Crime Scene

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Crime Scene

Finally, the gang's flight landed.

Alexis sighed as they got off at LAX. "Finally, it's over. I was counting on our expensive in-flight movie to be _Indiana Joannie_, but no! We had to waste time watching _Godzilla vs. Mothra_!"

"Hey, that was a classic!" Castle debated.

Beckett sighed and walked past them. "Taxi!" As the taxi pulled over the gang piled into the seats, she sighed. "So where are we headed?"

"Well, ladies first and age before beauty," said Castle, "What's say we let Alexis pick?"

Alexis looked at the time on her cell phone, which had already set itself for the time change. She smiled. "Well, _Teen Queen _shouldn't be done filming yet. Take us to Sunset Studios!"

The driver nodded and started driving.

"We came all the way to LA to watch some girlie TV show?" asked Esposito.

"Hannah Montana's the star," Alexis said.

"Oh, she's hot!"

"She's 16," Beckett said.

Ryan shook his head as they kept riding along.

Finally, they arrived at the studio and Alexis raced to get to stage 3.

"Your daughter's a crazed fan," Beckett told Castle.

"I've been told."

Alexis raced up to the stage, but it was already a closed set. She sighed in dismay as the others came up to the shut doors. "Great. Closed set."

"Oh, I got this." Castle walked up to the doors. "Hello, gentlemen," he told the guards, "I believe you know who I am."

"No," said one guard.

Castle looked at the 2. "Derrick Storm? Nikki Heat? Richard Castle? Top-selling author?"

The guards shook their heads.

Castle looked at the others. "I can't believe they've never heard of me."

Beckett sighed. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this thing on vacation." She walked up to the guards and pulled out her badge. "NYPD. Let the kid in."

The guards looked at each other, shrugged, and opened the doors.

Alexis squealed. "Thanks, Beckett! You rock!" She raced in.

Castle looked at Beckett. "I can't that believe thing works all the way across the country."

Beckett smiled, putting her badge back as they walked in the doors. "You'd be surprised."

Hannah as Phoebe and Mikayla as Hawaii, the 2 girls were once again in Phoebe's room on her bed.

"Last night had to be the best night of my life!" Phoebe squealed.

Hawaii just sat there, staring at the ceiling.

Phoebe looked at her. "Why. Why! HAWAII!"

"Huh?" Hawaii looked at her. Phoebe gave her a glare. "Oh, sorry, I was still in shock from kissing Prosper."

Phoebe stared at her. "You got to kiss yours?"

Telly walked in and pushed a heavy bag into Phoebe, knocking her off the bed. "Ready to go?"

Phoebe stood up and tossed the bag back. "Go where?"

"We had a deal! I distract the 3 little Pommels while you 2 are on your little date and you 2 take me and Yvette shopping for 2 hours at the South Mall and pay for half the stuff we buy."

Phoebe scoffed. "Not gonna happen!"

"If you don't, I'll tell Mom about how you ditched school last year to go to that Sassy's opening."

"OK! Who's driving?" Phoebe opened the door.

Telly smiled. "That's what I thought." She walked out the door.

"Hey! Maybe we can go stop by that cool chicken place for lunch."

Hawaii walked up to her. "Mm, chicken for the chicken." She walked out.

Phoebe shook her head and followed them, closing the door behind her.

"And cut!"

Hannah, Mikayla, and Kirsten walked up to the director, smiling.

"Good work, girls," said Archie, "We've already finished our first episode. Keep it up!"

"Thanks, Daddy!" Kirsten said, hugging him.

"I'm just so glad to be working with you, Hannah," said Mikayla.

"That goes double for you!" Hannah said in response as the 2 started hugging.

"Well, grab your things and you can go, girls," said Archie, "Later." He took Kirsten and left.

As soon as he was gone, Mikayla jumped off of Hannah. "Quit stealing my spotlight!"

"It's not yours to steal. You're second most important, I'm lead! So HA!"

"Oh, really? The studio said I was fantastic working with Jake Ryan in _Roger Bucks_."

"Well, they said they loved me when I shot _Indiana Joannie_ with Chase Crawford!"

Mikayla gave her one last glared and stomped off.

Alexis sighed. "Well, we missed most of it."

"Obviously, the flight was too long," said Castle.

"Oh, trust me, it was too long," said Ryan.

Alexis sighed and turned her gaze just enough to notice Mikayla walking by to grab her dog. "Mikayla!"

Mikayla turned and saw her. "Oh! Great! More fans! You guys must be—"

"Mikayla!" Mikayla's manager ran up to her. "Great job on your first day. I—" She then noticed Alexis and Castle and Beckett and Ryan and Esposito. "Oh, great. More fans. SECURITY! I THOUGHT THIS WAS A CLOSED SET!"

"It's OK, Margo, they're just fans. It's not like they're cops."

They all looked at one another.

Mikayla turned back to Alexis. "Well, I would love to stay and talk, but Chance here needs to get home and…" She leaned in and whispered the next part. "…I'm not sure how much more Margo can take."

Margo was on the phone. "Listen, you flunky, Mikayla ordered extra cashews in her trail mix. And if there isn't a boatload of curvy nuts in her dressing room first thing tomorrow morning, you're gonna be looking for a new leading lady, 'K?"

Mikayla turned Margo to face her. "I don't like cashews."

Margo covered the phone. "I know, but I do." _*BEEP**BEEP*_ "Hang on, I'm getting another call." She hit a button. "WHAT?"

Alexis winced.

"Listen, mister, we have a contract and it is legally binded!" 3…2…1… "If I get home and your bedroom is not clean, you can forget about allowance. OK, love you, bye!" She hung up and walked off.

Esposito leaned in to Ryan. "If we end up investigating another murder here, remind me to put her on the suspect list." Ryan nodded.

Mikayla sighed and put on her sunglasses. "Well, I gotta go." She left.

Alexis sighed and turned around to see Hannah headed for her dressing room. She started panting. "Guys, cover your ears."

"What? Why?" asked Ryan.

"'Cause I'm about to burst!"

Castle, Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito all complied.

Alexis screamed at the top of her lungs.

All 4 winced. They could hear her even with their ears plugged.

Hannah whirled around at the sound of her shriek.

"HANNAH MONTANA!" Alexis raced over there.

Castle, Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito unplugged their ears.

"I love you!" Alexis cried, "I have all your CD's and I must have watch _Indiana Joannie_ 100 times before I even bought it and I just couldn't wait to see this show just because I knew you were gonna be in it, it's practically the whole reason I came to LA—to see you. And I've been to 5 concerts, so I've seen you before up close but never this close and I can't believe you're standing right here in front of me!"

Castle raced up there. "Honey, honey, pace yourself. Deep breath."

Alexis took in a breath and nodded.

Castle looked at Hannah. "Sorry, Miss Montana, she gets excited when—" Hannah gestured to Alexis. He looked at her. "Oh! Let it out!"

Alexis let out her deep breath and started breathing heavily.

"It's OK, fans react like this all the time," Hannah said, "I'm Hannah."

"And I'm Rick Castle."

Hannah blinked. "Richard Castle? As in the famous author of the Derrick Storm and Nikki Heat novels?"

"Oh, so you've heard of me! Well, you might wanna spread the word to those guards outside, because they are really out of the loop here!"

Hannah smiled. "Don't worry, I'll let them know. Well, actually, I've heard of you, but I've never read your books. I'm still only 17 and with my busy schedule, I really don't have time for reading."

"Yeah, I saw that on _Mack and Mickey_," said Alexis.

"Wow, you really are a fan!"

Alexis smiled.

"Alright, pop quiz: where was I originally from?"

"Tennessee."

"Right! But you know what? I've really actually moved past—" Just then, a jug band ringtone started playing. She pulled out her cell. "Sorry. My phone."

"Interesting ring," Castle commented.

"OK, I was homesick!" Hannah answered it. "Hello? Oh, hey, Lola! Yes, I'm still on the set!"

Alexis turned to her dad. "Lola Luftnagle, her best friend."

"OK, I'll be back home in…" She looked at her watch. "…20 minutes. See you." She hung up and started to go into her dressing room. "I've gotta go." She left.

Ryan came up to Castle and Alexis. "Can we get to a hotel now?"

_20 minutes later…_

_At Miley's house…_

Miley walked into the house, dropped her bag on the floor, and turned on the light…

"SURPRISE!" Lilly, Jackson, Siena, and Robbie all cried.

Miley smiled. They'd set up a party for her! "You guys rock!" She ran up and hugged Lilly.

"Congratulations, Miley!" Lilly said.

Miley hugged her dad.

"Your first ever TV show episode!" Robbie said, "This is great!"

Miley turned to Jackson. "Not you."

"I wasn't gonna!"

Miley and Siena looked at each other and shrugged and hugged for one second.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Lilly stopped smiling and looked at them. "We didn't invite anyone else, I wonder who that could be." She went over to the door and opened it.

"Lilly-pop!" Oliver cried when she opened it.

"Ollie-pop!"

The 2 lovers hugged tightly.

Jackson and Siena looked at each other, shrugged, and did the same thing.

"Oliver, what are you doing here?" Miley asked, excitedly.

"Yeah, you just visited," said Lilly.

"I know, but the tour's almost over and I absolutely had to be here to see you for winter break."

Lilly smiled. "So you're here for the whole 2 weeks?"

"Yes, I am."

Lilly squealed and jumped on him.

Oliver hugged her and walked over to Miley. "So, Miley, I hear you're shooting a TV show."

"Yes, that would explain the party," said Robbie.

"Right," Oliver said. He turned to Jackson and Siena. "So, Jackson, I suppose this must be your b-b-b-bikini model girlfriend you've bragged about time and again."

Jackson smiled. "Oliver, Siena, Siena, Oliver."

Siena smiled. "Hey, nice to meet you."

Oliver nodded.

"Back off, pretty woman, he's mine!" Lilly said.

"Well, she's mine," said Jackson, "so we're even!"

Miley's phone started ringing again. She pulled it out and looked at the Caller ID. "Oh! I better take this outside. It's Orchid Rivers, my co-star!" She squealed and answered, walking out back and out of earshot of the others. "Hello, Orchid."

_"Hannah!" _Orchid cried from the other end of the line, _"You have to come help me!"_

Miley stopped smiling. "What's wrong?"

_"I'm in trouble. I'm in the alleyway on the corner of Northwest and Lowell. Someone's following me."_

"Who? Who's following you? What's wrong?"

_"Well, I think it's—NO!"_

Miley heard the sound of gunshots on the other end of the line. "Orchid! Orchid! Speak to me! Are you OK?"

_*BEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP…*_

Miley heard the dial tone and knew someone had hung up the phone. She hung up… She hurriedly dialed the numbers 9-1-1.

A female detective picked up the line when she heard the phone ring. "LAPD. Detective Liberty Cape."

"Hey. My name is Hannah Montana. I think a friend of mine was just shot."

* * *

Alright, Miley told the police about Orchid as Hannah because she couldn't say that Miley Stewart was friends with Orchid Rivers. And no cracks about there not being a Northwest or Lowell or that there are but they don't intersect because I really don't know my way around LA and didn't wanna go to the trouble of bringing up a map on Google and all that so I just make up stuff about where this stuff is. Keep reading anyway please!


	4. Murder is a Vicious Game

Chapter 4: Murder is a Vicious Game

The next morning, Castle, Alexis, Becket, Ryan, and Esposito were walking down a street, the guys lugged down with shopping bags.

Esposito sighed and looked at Castle. "I can't believe that your daughter and your partner just dragged us through 2 hours of shopping as soon as we were done with breakfast."

"Well, Alexis always wanted to shop on Melrose Avenue," said Castle as they turned onto Northwest.

"Look on the bright side, guys," said Beckett, "Maybe no one will turn up dead."

Alexis suddenly stopped walking.

Castle stopped walking, too, followed by the others. "What is it, honey?"

Alexis sighed. "Wish not granted."

They all followed her gaze and saw LAPD gathered around an alleyway at the next intersection. They raced over there.

An officer stopped them. "I'm sorry, you can't go in there."

Beckett held up her badge. "Kate Beckett, NYPD."

Liberty came up and showed her badge. "Liberty Cape, LAPD. Aren't you out of state."

"A little." Beckett put down her badge, an action which Liberty quickly copied. "What happened?"

"If you want any info," said Liberty, "you'll have to get it from the reporters." She walked off.

An Asian girl ran up. "Speaking of reporters, Mallory Long, _Los Angeles Herald_."

"Mind telling us what happened here?" asked Beckett.

Liberty came back up. "I'll be the judge of that."

"Oh, don't sweat it, I'll tell them."

Liberty glared at her.

"Guess who was shot down not 8 hours ago in this very alley?" Mallory asked. They all looked at her. "Orchid Rivers."

Alexis' eyes widened. "Orchid Rivers?" They all looked at her. "As in Hannah Montana's co-star Orchid Rivers?"

"Killed in cold blood," said Mallory.

"That's to be proven," said Liberty, "We still don't know who did this."

"Well, whoever did it must have had something against your daughter," Mallory said.

"What?"

Mallory looked at her. "Isn't your daughter Viviana Cape?"

"What does she have to do with this?"

"I thought she was Orchid's co-star in _Teen Queen_."

Liberty scoffed. "That's ridiculous. My daughter's been in medical school for 3 years. I'll bet she's in a class right now."

_Back on the set of the show…_

"You dropped out of medical school?" asked Persephone.

Viviana shushed her. "No one can know. My mom sent me to medical school because she wanted to me to 'make a difference in society' like she was doing. Well, I just couldn't take it! I never wanted to be a doctor and the school didn't make any difference. Dropping out wiped me out so I had to start renting an apartment in uptown and acting to pay the bills. I didn't think I was gonna land this role. And since I started I've gotten offers on 3 different movies and I've had to turn down every single one because I don't want Mom to know about what I'm doing. I only took the role on this show because it's a youth-interest show and she would never watch something like this."

Persephone sighed. "I just wanna let you know that I don't agree with what you're doing."

Viviana sighed.

Archie came up. "Is everyone here?" Everyone confirmed it. "I have some bad news for you all. Orchid was shot last night and they found her body in the alley at Northwest and Lowell this afternoon."

"What?"

"That's horrible!"

"Why would someone do that?"

"The police are coming today to do some investigation," Archie continued, "We'll have to try not to get in their way. There is still the problem of her role but we can deal with that later. Back to work."

Viviana and Persephone looked at each other.

While the police showed up an hour later, Castle, Beckett, Alexis, Ryan, and Esposito were doing some investigation of their own…

"Why are we investigating this?" asked Castle.

"Someone was shot last night, Castle," Beckett said, "A teenage girl, no less. I wanna make sure the murder is justified."

"Uh, Creepy Cape told us to stay off her case," said Ryan.

"No, she told us to stay out of her way while she's investigating it," said Beckett, "Which we can do by interviewing the people they're not busy with. Alexis said Kirsten Collis, one of the stars of the show, was supposed to be in a recording session—as were Hannah and Mikayla—while the police were at the studio. So she should be here." She walked into a recording studio.

Kirsten was recording a song: "_ …and the best part is you. So just get down, on one knee, and ask me 'will you marry me?' I wanna know if your love for me is true when you say 'I do.' So tell me you love me 'cause you know that I love you…_" Beckett walked in. "_…so say 'I do.' _" Beckett held up her badge while Castle, Alexis, Ryan, and Esposito walked in. Kirsten saw this and realized they were there for her. "Cut the track." The guy at the booth stopped the song.

_5 minutes later…_

Kirsten sighed in shock. "Orchid's dead?"

"Were you 2 close?" asked Beckett.

"Absolutely," said Kirsten, "Sure, she was _playing_ my best friend on the show. Because I set her up with that part. We're like sisters in real life. Or…we were."

"When's the last time you saw her?" asked Esposito.

"Yesterday, around 7:30, 8:00. We were at the studio filming the show. After the episode was over, we had dinner, kind of girls' night out thing, and she went home."

"Wait, home?" Alexis asked, "I thought she lived in Beverly Hills."

"She does," Kirsten affirmed.

"But her body was found at the corner of Northwest and Lowell around 9:00 and that's miles off-course from Beverly. What was she doing over there?"

"Well, she mentioned going to talk to someone last night but she said it was on the way there so I really can't help you…" She stopped as if she'd realized someone. "Uh oh. Spencer doesn't know, does he?"

"Who?" asked Castle.

"Her boyfriend, Spencer Rockwell."

"Orchid Rivers was dating Spencer Rockwell?" Alexis cried, "As in the Brad Pitt of the Hannah Montana generation? Super Spencer?"

"Rock-hard Rockwell," added Kirsten, "Yeah, that's him."

"'Rock-hard Rockwell'?" asked Ryan.

"You ever hear the term 'rock-hard abs'?" Alexis asked, "There you go."

"OK, we'll have to find him and talk to him," said Beckett.

"Good luck," said Kirsten, "I'll bet the reporters have surrounded his beach house already."

"We'll do our best to break through," Castle said, getting up from his seat and starting to walk out.

Kirsten remained seated, looking at the floor.

Alexis started to get up but looked at Kirsten again and sat right back down.

Castle turned around while his cop friends were leaving. "Alexis?" They all faced her. "You coming?"

"In a minute, Dad."

Castle nodded and left with Beckett and the guys.

Alexis turned back to Kirsten. "I know what it's like to lose someone you care about."

"You do?" Kirsten scoffed.

"Yeah… But you've dealt with it before, right?"

Kirsten looked at her.

"I mean, you talk about losing someone you love in your songs and you write all your music."

Kirsten looked at the floor.

"'Losing my life, my love, losing my heart, of all the things in my life, you were the very best part. You were my closest family, my very best friend, and now I've lost you though you were supposed to stay till the very end. Come back to me tonight, come back to me or I'll cry, come back 'cause I feel like I'm gonna die.'"

Kirsten looked at her. "I wrote that song about my goldfish."

Alexis blinked. "Oh…"

"It was a simpler time."

Alexis smiled.

Kirsten giggled back.


	5. Second Strike

Chapter 5: Second Strike

Miley lay on her bed in the barn, listening to a song Kirsten and Orchid had written and sung together.

"_ …through darkness and light, through every up and down, we'll stay best friends forever, for as long as the world spins around, and I just know, feel it in my soul, that we were always meant to go together, best friends forever…_"

Lilly walked in, knocking on the door.

Miley looked at her the sighed and went back to moping/mourning.

Lilly closed the door and went to sit next to her. "Miley, you called the police as soon as you found out, that's all you could've done."

"I saw her yesterday, Lilly. I could see she was worried, upset…I should've convinced Kirsten or someone to walk her home or something."

"Then there would've been 2 victims. Miley, you did the right thing!"

"No, I didn't, Lilly. There might have been something I could've done that could've stopped it—"

"Miley, you don't know that! …You did all you could." She sighed and took the stereo remote. "Now are you going to that set today, or you gonna stay here and mope?"

"I'd prefer the moping."

"Fine. Don't let me stop you." She turned up the volume and left.

Miley sighed and listened to the song.

"_…'cause I know that you and I, until the day I die, I'll be by your side, and I know you'll be at mine… _"

Miley's eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright on the bed. Why hadn't Kirsten gone through with that promise and gone with Orchid that night? She scrambled out of the bed and raced into the Hannah closet. She came out about 5 minutes later dressed as Hannah. She ran to her car and drove to the studio at full speed.

_Meanwhile…_

Paparazzi and screaming fans had already surrounded Spencer Rockwell's house, so that just made the cops' job harder. And the crowd bumped Beckett, Castle, Ryan, Esposito, Alexis, and Liberty Cape into each other. Now they were walking through the halls of Spencer's house, arguing.

"I told you to stay off my case!" Liberty snapped.

"Someone was murdered and you expect me to just back off?" Beckett cried, "Kirsten gave us information that you don't have and Alexis here is a fan that can tell us stuff you don't know."

Liberty sighed and stopped them. "Fine. But if I get the feeling at any time that you're interfering with my case, you're out."

"Well, I'll promise, but you might wanna get Castle's in writing," said Beckett.

Liberty sighed, rolling her eyes, and kept on down the hall. "Spencer? Spencer!"

"What?" A good-looking young man came out. "I thought I told the press I wasn't answering any questions."

"Not the press." Liberty pulled out her badge. "Police."

"Oh." Spencer walked over to them. "What's going on? First the press surrounds my house, then the cops show up?"

"I take you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Orchid Rivers is dead."

He stared at them. "What?"

"She was murdered."

Spencer groaned and started pacing.

"When was the last time you saw her?" asked Castle.

"Like 2 days ago when she first told me about the show. Now my girlfriend's dead. She was barely 16!"

"That's why we're trying to find out who killed her," said Liberty.

He sighed and stopped pacing. "How'd she die?"

"She was shot."

Spencer leaned against the wall, not saying anything.

"Where were you yesterday?" asked Beckett.

"While Orchid was at the studio, I was off shooting a movie. I had a concert thing about the time she got off. She'd called me and told me she was getting off and that she'd meet me at the house when I got back, but she didn't show."

_At the precinct…_

_20 minutes later…_

Liberty pinned a picture of Spencer onto their suspect list. "Alibi checks out. Spencer was at the Staples Center from 6:30 until almost 9:00."

"Kirsten did say that Orchid was going to meet someone on the way home and Spencer doesn't live far from Beverly," Alexis pointed out.

"True, but the crime scene is still way off course," said Beckett, pacing.

"Well," Alexis continued, "maybe our crook caught her on her way there and they got in a car chase that ended her up at the crime scene."

"Maybe," said Liberty, "but the ME pegged her death around 8:00, precisely 15 minutes after Kirsten said she'd last seen her best friend, so the car chase would have to have been really short."

"Which means whoever it was knew where she was and when," said Castle.

"A lot of people knew where she was that night," said Liberty, "What I wanna know is how we got word immediately that Orchid had been shot…" She then realized something. "Oh boy."

_At the studio…_

Hannah raced into the studio and cornered Persephone. "Persephone! Persephone, where's Kirsten?"

"She's still recording."

"I've gotta talk to her—"

A cop came up behind her.

"Yikes!" She whirled around and looked at Liberty. "Scared me."

"No kidding. Hannah, we need to ask you a few questions."

She looked at her. "Police officer say what?"


	6. Pop Star in Question

Chapter 6: Pop Star in Question

Hannah was pacing around the interrogation room. "I'm telling you, I didn't kill her! Why would I?"

"Why don't you tell me?" asked Beckett, sitting next to Castle (Liberty was watching by the door).

"Look, I wasn't even anywhere near the crime scene when it happened. I was at…my friend's place."

"Then how'd you get word so fast?" asked Castle.

"She called me. She was being chased and she dialed me and I answered and she said she was being chased and just when she was about to tell me what was going on, she got shot and the killer hung up on me."

"Can you prove that?" asked Liberty.

Hannah sighed. She pulled out her phone. "Here." She laid it on the table. "Run it if you have to. But the time of the call was exactly around 8:00."

Beckett checked.

"Orchid Rivers – 7:56"

_10 minutes later…_

"Hannah's alibi checks out," said Liberty, "Her phone call's transmission was traced back to a ranch off the coast. It's over 12 miles from our crime scene."

"So why so suspicious?" asked Ryan, leaning against the wall.

"Well, for one thing, the phone was being used by Hannah Montana, but it's registered to a girl named Miley Stewart."

"Why was she using someone else's phone?" asked Alexis.

"Why don't you start by telling us who this girl is?" asked Beckett.

"I don't know, I've never heard that name before."

"Maybe we should track her and bring her in and ask her," Liberty suggested.

_10 minutes later…_

Miley was now sitting in the interrogation room. "Brought in twice in one day. Worse, one hour."

A guy gave Liberty a piece of paper and she took it over to Castle and Beckett, who were waiting outside the room. "Looks like she's mainly clean. Hannah comes out perfect on record. Miley, however, did slight time for…driving with a false license."

"Well, that's hardly a murder charge," said Castle.

"Odd thing is, she was in the slammer for only 2 hours before she got out." She then looked at the paper again and her eyes widened and her smile disappeared. "Get this: her fake license was registered to Hannah Montana."

"You're kidding!" Beckett snatched the paper.

"Nope," said Liberty, "Looks like she and Hannah have plenty of ties."

"Well, then we better check it out," said Beckett, leading the 2 of them into the room.

"Whatever happened, I didn't do it," Miley said as soon as the door opened.

Beckett and Liberty sat down at the table and Castle guarded the door.

"We just wanna know what Hannah Montana was doing with your phone," said Liberty.

Miley looked at her. "What?"

"So you were unaware she had it?" asked Beckett.

"No, I knew, but how do you know?"

"We brought Hannah in this morning to talk to her about Orchid Rivers' death and it turns out that Orchid called her cell phone a few minutes before she was killed and was shot during the duration of the call. When we ran the phone, we noticed that it was registered to you."

"Look, she…" Then she realized something. "Wait, why would she call Hannah and not Kirsten, her best friend?"

Beckett and Liberty and Castle exchanged glances. They hadn't thought about that.

Ryan and Esposito were with Alexis in the observation room.

"She's right," said Alexis, "How did I miss that?"

"It's OK, kid, rookie mistake," said Ryan.

"On the same subject, why wasn't Kirsten with Orchid that night?" asked Miley, "They're best friends and they said in that duet song they recorded that they'd stay at each other's sides till death."

"Well—"

"And, another thing…" Miley trailed off. It had just then hit her. "Wait a second, you ran _Hannah's _phone to find out about the call?"

"And found out it was yours," said Liberty.

"No, I helped her pick it out and pay for it, it's not really mine. What I'm saying is, why didn't you run _Orchid's _phone to find out about the call?"

Beckett got it then. "The phone was never found."

"Well, didn't you say that she was shot while the call was in progress? Wouldn't that mean that the phone would still be at the crime scene?"

Castle looked at Beckett and Liberty. None of them had an answer for that.

_A few minutes later…_

Liberty pinned Miley and Hannah's pictures next to Spencer's on the suspect list. "Well, none of our suspects had a motive. We can't track if they had opportunity. And to top it all off, the one piece of evidence that might actually blow this case wide open is nowhere to be found."

"You know," said Esposito, "Hannah did say the killer hung up on her. Maybe they took the phone with them because they knew it was such crucial evidence."

"And that the mysterious disappearance would make Hannah a suspect," Alexis suddenly added.

Castle looked at her. "Are you saying someone set Hannah up?"

"It's possible. But if that is the case, I can assure you that it wasn't Miley. But her name still does start with an M."

_About a half hour later…_

Mikayla was in the interrogation room now. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"Not yet," said Esposito, sitting there with Ryan while Liberty guarded the door, "But where were you last night between the hours of 7 and 8?"

"As soon as the show finished taping last night, I went home, took care of my dog, and went off to a concert."

"Anyone that can vouch for that?" asked Liberty.

"Well, considering the fact that I was bombarded by screaming fans when I walked into the door, I'd say about 10,000 people. OK, what is going on?"

"Just a murder investigation," Ryan answered.

"Whose murder?"

"Orchid Rivers," Liberty answered.

Mikayla stared at her. "Orchid's dead?"

"How'd you know her?" asked Esposito.

"Before the show started taping, not at all really. We hung out a little yesterday during rehearsal and filming but…no, we weren't really close. Nothing like her and Kirsten." She then noticed the 3 cops exchanging looks. "You did talk to Kirsten, right? Because she and Spencer are gonna be devastated."

"We interviewed them already," said Liberty, "No motives, 2 alibis."

"Alibis? Kirsten was the one who drove Orchid home while Spencer was at his concert."

The 3 cops exchanged surprised looks.

Mikayla processed this. "What?"

_Later…_

Kirsten started out of the recording studio.

Before she could leave, Liberty and Beckett walked in.

Kirsten started going the other way.

"Down, girl," Beckett said.

Kirsten stopped reaching for the doorknob. She sighed. "OK…I was with Orchid the night she was shot. But…" She turned to face them. "I didn't kill her."

"Prove it," said Liberty, "We're starting to think you 2 had something going on."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, despite being our victim's best friend," said Beckett, "you denied being anywhere near the crime scene at the time of the murder, but Mikayla herself said you drove her home and you just admitted so."

"I didn't drive her home. I was taking her to Spencer's. She said she was going to wait for him to come home from the concert and stay the night with him and that I couldn't tell anyone about it."

"Why not?" asked Liberty.

"She didn't say. She wouldn't even tell me why she wasn't going home…"

"Some best friend, keeping secrets from you," Beckett commented.

"…until we got there."

Both girls looked at her.

Kirsten dropped her bag on the floor and sat down. "Let me tell you what happened: when we were getting ready to leave the studio and go home, Orchid jumped at me and asked me to take her home saying that her chauffeur couldn't pick her up."

"How was she?" asked Liberty.

"She seemed…scared. Like she'd just seen a Ghost and had to get out as fast as possible. She told me she couldn't go home that night. She said it had some bad memories. I didn't know what she meant, but I didn't ask her because she seemed so…traumatized. I didn't wanna upset her. You know…" She shook her head and sighed. "We tell each other everything. I didn't understand what she was hiding. It was like she didn't want me to know, like Spencer was the only one who could hear what she had to say. Well, once she proposed her idea to go to Spencer's for the night, I reminded her that he wasn't home, that he had a concert to go to. She just didn't wanna listen, she told me she'd wait for him, she didn't care how long it would take. I kept asking her what was wrong but she kept telling me it was nothing. And she wasn't breaking."

"Sounds pretty urgent," said Beckett.

"It was. But apparently, it wasn't worth telling her best friend. She just made me so furious. …So furious that I stopped the car. I pulled her over and we both got out in the rain and we just got in a fight. I asked her what was wrong and she still wouldn't tell me. I just got so mad… I told her we weren't going anywhere until she told me and dropped the keys under the car. Well, instead of just coming clean, she ducked down and started fishing for them. It was like she was getting ready to snatch them, get in the driver's seat, and leave without me. That's when I realized…she's afraid. So I got the keys back, I made up with her…and she still wouldn't tell me. By then, I knew she wouldn't so I gave up. I told her I would take her to Spencer's and then I'd drive home and we'd be done. But before we could get in the car, someone shot at her. They missed, but not by far. That freaked us both out. She pushed me into the car, made me drive off, and then got out her phone and started dialing the rest of the show's cast members, the only people she knew still had a chance of helping. I didn't get to see who it was after her before I'd left the street, letting her panic there. Alone. I've regretted it ever since." She started crying.

Beckett and Liberty looked at each other, sadly.


	7. One Step at a Time

Chapter 7: One Step at a Time

"So we're not making Kirsten a suspect?" asked Castle once Beckett and Liberty had shared the story.

"She had no motive, Castle," said Beckett.

"Well, neither do the 3 suspects we have now! Miley barely even knew our victim! Spencer had no opportunity! Hannah was somewhere else entirely!"

"Miley's hiding a shared past with Hannah, there's no telling who else she knows," Liberty corrected, "Spencer could've stolen away from that concert at any intermission. And Hannah could've hired someone."

"Well, if Spencer is a victim, Kirsten's just a viable. How do we know she wasn't fake-crying?"

"Castle," said Beckett, "a girl learns to tell crocodile tears from real sadness."

"The girl's an actress! For all we know, she was thinking of dead puppies!"

"Dad!" Alexis snapped.

"Sorry. But all I'm saying is that the girl's paid to cry on cue. Or maybe she just had a guilty conscience. I mean, what girl leaves her best friend to die like that?"

"Hang on a second," said Alexis. She started thinking. "When you guys were questioning Miley and you told her that Orchid's dying phone call was made through her phone, she made no reaction to that except stating the facts that put us where we are now. Like the fact that we should be questioning Kirsten and looking for that lost phone. Well, how did she just calmly take the news of Orchid's death? It's like she'd already heard the story. But Hannah was mourning or at the studio all day so the only opportunity she would've had to tell Miley was through that phone, but when you guys ran it, Orchid's call was the last one made."

"Well, maybe the press already tipped off the blogs," suggested Esposito.

"Yeah, but there's no way she could've just taken the news like that unless she'd already played that scene. You guys said she'd only ever been to the precinct before when she did time for that fake license."

"Alexis is right," said Liberty. She looked at Miley and Hannah's picture. "Looks like Hannah is about to get off and Miley is holding onto a little more than she's letting on." She snatched Hannah's photo.

_A while later…_

"I didn't kill her!" Miley snapped.

"Miley, you made no reaction to the news of Orchid's death," Beckett demanded, "None. Which means you'd already heard about it. You hadn't been brought in earlier, Hannah hadn't called, and no one else outside of the precinct and the press knew until the blogs started chatting which started about the same time we caught you. Wanna tell us how you knew?"

"I can't!"

"Then you may be facing a murder charge."

Miley stared at her. She sighed, considering her options. She had none. "Tell me there's no one else watching."

Beckett looked at Liberty and Castle guarding the door.

They checked. No one was outside.

Beckett glanced at the window to the observation room and gave the people inside a quick glance to get out.

Esposito, Ryan, and Alexis exchanged some looks and left the room. It's not like Miley would've known, but it was probably better if they didn't know just in case.

Once they were gone, Beckett nodded to Miley.

Miley got out of her seat, knelt down next to her bag, and opened it…

Suddenly—_BOOM!_

Castle was just barely out of the way of the shot that had just rung out. He instantly opened the door and started out with Beckett and Liberty.

Kirsten was in the hall. On the floor. She scrambled up and pinned herself to the wall, letting another bullet whiz by, just avoiding Castle's side again.

"Why is he shooting at me?" Castle demanded.

"I don't think it's you he's shooting at!" Kirsten snapped, ducking into a closet and using the door as a shield. After the third shot, the firing stopped.

Liberty raced over to her. "OK, 2 questions: 1, who would be shooting at you?"

"The same person that killed Orchid, whoever they were."

"And 2: what are you doing here?"

"I need help…and I kind of found Orchid's purse in my car."

_A few minutes later…_

Liberty, Castle, Beckett, Alexis, Miley, Kirsten, Esposito, and Ryan were now examining the contents of Orchid's just found purse.

"CSU is doing a search of the crime scene for anything that can give us a hint as to where Orchid's phone is," said Liberty as they combed through the stuff.

"There's nothing here," said Castle, "Ooh, a 20!"

"Castle!" Beckett snapped, grabbing his wrist before he could snatch the 20.

"Right. Sorry."

"Yo!" A cop walked in and tossed a phone at Liberty.

Liberty caught it and checked it. "It's Orchid's."

"Found it in a dumpster," said the cop, "Just barely stopped the trash man from snatching it. Talk about dumping the evidence."

"Killer was desperate. Better run the other calls. Fine out what Orchid was hiding."

"And from her best friend of all people," said Kirsten.

"Her best friend who deserted her," said Alexis.

"She told me that if I didn't get out of there before the killer shot her, I'd be the next victim. She said there was nothing I could do to stop it anyway. I told her I wasn't gonna leave her and she told me that she personally would knock me out if I did just so I wouldn't have to go through it. When I still didn't let go, she pushed me into the car and hit the lock. I had to no choice but to get out of there or watch her die."

Alexis stared at her.

Miley looked at Kirsten. "Oh, Kirsten, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. Whatever she had to say had her so scared and apparently caused her death. The only thing I can do or could've done that change this situation's outcome is to find out her big secret."

Liberty finished running the phone. "Beckett, check this out."

Beckett did. Her eyes widened. "But…but that doesn't…" She went back over to the table and fished something out of the pile… "Oh…my…"

_At Spencer Rockwell's house…_

The group stormed in.

Spencer looked at them. "What now?"

Liberty held up the cell phone. "I'll tell you what." She opened the phone directory. "12 different calls to an OB-GYN in the past 3 weeks…"

Beckett held up the object she'd sifted from the pile of stuff from Orchid's purse. "…and a positive pregnancy test."

Spencer's eyes widened.

"Something you wanna tell us about your girlfriend?"


	8. Cat's Out of the Bag

Chapter 8: Cat's Out of the Bag

Spencer sat in his chair and sighed. "How could I not know?"

"She didn't tell me either," Kirsten assured him, "She wanted you to know first. Of course, she also didn't tell me that you 2 went and eloped on her 17th birthday."

Spencer looked at her. "As soon as we were both legal enough, we decided it was worth it. We just didn't go all out or anything because we knew the press would hound us for 'rushing into things.'"

"And that secret marriage of yours resulted in a kid," said Miley.

"Apparently. And I guess someone didn't want her to have it."

"Well, she didn't so I guess they win," said Ryan. Everyone looked at him. "Sorry."

"What I don't get is how anyone but the OB-GYN knew about her."

"Well, maybe it wasn't the baby," suggested Alexis, "Maybe someone was just jealous of the marriage?"

"No one knew."

"Or just a late strike on your relationship."

"I wouldn't be surprised. I get like a dozen thousand e-mails a day from crazed fans subjected 'YOU'RE MINE!'"

"Well, maybe someone a little closer?" suggested Castle, "Someone with a really big gun?"

"Not that I know of…oh no."

"What?" asked Liberty

"Well…she just made me so mad. I had to tell her to get her to back off. I didn't think this was gonna happen."

"Who?" asked Beckett, "Is someone stalking you?"

"She's been after me for years, trying to get me to go out with her. She should be lucky I didn't hit her over the head with a baseball bat."

"WHO?" demanded Liberty.

Spencer sighed. "Rhonda Reese."

Miley's eyes widened. "Rocky and Ryder Reese's little sister?"

"Yeah. She like a year younger than I am but I just couldn't get her to back off so I finally snapped. I don't know what got into me. But she was just coming onto me and something just came over me and before I could stop myself, I was blurting out 'I'm married!'"

Alexis leaned forward. "Quick question: was it sexual harassment or just irritating love notes?"

"Both."

"Ooh…"

"Yeah. I guess she took the news a little harder than I thought. Kind of like 'if I can't have you, no one can.' Except it looks like it turned out more like 'if I can't have you, she can't either.'"

The other exchanged some looks.

_Later…_

Spencer and Kirsten led the group to the Reese residence.

"I'll handle it from here," said Kirsten, walking up to the door and knocking.

Rocky Reese answered the door. "Hey, Kirsten. How are you dealing?"

"I'm fine," Kirsten said, "You know, for now. Is Rhonda home? I need to talk to her."

"Uh, Rhonda left this morning. Said she was going to visit her boyfriend in San Francisco."

"Say what now?"

"Yeah, she's been going out with him for a few months now. She goes to see him every other weekend."

Kirsten looked at Spencer.

Spencer shrugged.

Kirsten turned back to Rocky. "Uh…I'll be right back." She walked over to Spencer to get into a whispered conversation with him. "Did you know about this?"

"I didn't know she had a boyfriend!"

"I don't think she does."

"Well, then where's she been going?"

"I thought the weekends were when she pestered you!"

"Are you kidding? She's on my case 24/7!"

"What—" Kirsten finally gave herself the calm down signal and stopped talking. She sighed and went back to the door to keep talking to Rocky. "Uh, does her mystery boyfriend have a name?"

"Yeah, I think it was Derrick Rush."

Liberty instantly pulled out her cell phone and did a sweep on the name.

Kirsten just kept talking to Rocky. "What about an address or a phone number or something? I really need to talk to this guy."

Rocky thought it over. "No, I don't think she gave any numbers. You could try calling Rhonda. Oh! No, wait, now I remember. Her phone's battery died this morning and she was in such a rush to leave that she didn't bother to charge it."

"I bet she didn't. OK, I'll talk to you later." With that, Kirsten went back to the group. "Well, now what do we do?"

Liberty was on her phone. "I don't know, but I've got no records on anyone in San Francisco named Derrick Rush." She started dialing back to the precinct. "Hey, Reg. It's Liberty. Could you do a run for me on a guy on Derrick Rush who supposedly lives in San Francisco? And while you're at it, we need to be tracking Rhonda Reese as hard as we can. Got it? Thanks, you're a lifesaver. Probably, literally. Keep me posted." She hung up.

"OK," said Castle, "So your guy keeps us in contact to warn us of any action with our prime suspect and her alleged boyfriend—who, at this point, is most likely made up, especially considering how hard she was hitting on Spencer here—and maybe we'll get her down."

That's when Kirsten's cell rang. "Hold on a second." She answered. "Hello. Oh, hey, Jocelyn. How are things going on set?" She listened for a few minutes and her eyes widened. "WHAT?"

_Back at the set…_

Kirsten raced in and up to Archie. "Dad! What happened?"

"What are you talking about?" Archie asked.

"You mean you didn't hear yet? Why would Jocelyn call me first?"

"Kirsten! What's going on?"

"Persephone's missing!"

Liberty, Spencer, Miley, Beckett, Castle, Esposito, Ryan, and Alexis raced in.

"Could you slow down, kid?" Esposito asked, out of breath, "We're kind of having trouble keeping up."

"Sorry," said Kirsten, "My literal track record speaks for itself."

That's when Jocelyn raced up. "Kirsten! I was just running to tell your dad."

And _that's_ when Viviana came into the room. Upon seeing Liberty there, she instantly backed up to hide behind a clothes rack.

But she was too late. Liberty had already seen her. "Viviana?"

Viviana instantly stopped. "Nuts!" She turned to smile at her. "Hey, Mom!"

"'Mom'?" everyone else (besides Liberty) said.

Liberty ignored that and stormed over to her daughter. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at medical school!"

Viviana sighed. No use trying to hide it now. "I dropped out, OK? I couldn't handle the pressure! I'm sick of trying to live the life you want me to! I'm an actress, not a doctor!"

"Wow, this is awkward," Archie said to which everyone else nodded.

At this point, Jocelyn's phone beeped. She looked at it. "It's a text from one of the producers…that says they found Persephone! …in the broom closet?" She led the group to the described closet to find a small group of people collected at the door. She looked inside the closet to find that Persephone was indeed there. With a stab wound in her abdomen and blood flowing out of it. She was dead.

Beckett sighed. "Well. That tips the scales."


	9. Second Body's the Charm

Chapter 9: Second Body's the Charm

The entire group watched as Persephone's body was taken away.

Beckett looked at Liberty. "So what's our move now?"

"Well…obviously, we need to look for a connection, assuming it's the same killer."

"In that case, I guess it's this TV show we need to investigate."

Kirsten heard this and instantly raced off.

Miley raced after her. "Kirsten!"

Kirsten stopped in a dark hall. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Well, you'll have to talk about it sometime," Miley responded as she stopped walking as well and placed her hands on her hips.

"I'm serious. Think it through. Obviously, if Orchid and Persephone were killed by the same person, then this show is probably the target. Which means they'll be going after Jocelyn and Viviana and Hannah and Mikayla and Rocky and Ryder and…and my dad."

Miley sighed. "And you."

Kirsten nodded. "Yeah. But what does that matter anymore?" With that, she walked off.

Miley stared after the girl who was losing everything. She sighed and walked off. "Maybe I should just go home."

_Later…_

Beckett, Castle, and Liberty walked up to Persephone's house.

"So let me get this straight," said Beckett, "Your daughter was in medical school and dropped out to be an actress?"

"Absolutely," Liberty said, "It's hard to believe after all the decisions she's made in her life that she'd do something like medical science. I mean, her whole life we've been talking about her wanting to be a doctor since I was a cop. She was in science club, the math team, a volunteer program at the hospital—human and pet. I can't believe she'd just throw it away to do something like this."

"OK, can we focus on the case now?" Castle spoke up.

"Right, sorry. So where do we stand with the case?"

Beckett sighed. "Well, the ME is checking out the body to match it with the other one to verify if it was the same killer. Right now, we just have a lot of theories: maybe it was the same killer just trying to get rid of the show; maybe it was the same killer who killed Orchid to keep us from investigating Persephone; maybe Persephone found out who Orchid's killer was and why and they silenced her to keep her quiet; maybe it was two different killers and the connection between the two victims was merely a coincidence or a cover-up. It could be anything at this point."

"Then we better do this fast." Liberty reached to open the door to Persephone's house…only to find that a light touch opened it. She instantly panicked and pulled out her gun.

Beckett quickly reached into her shoe and did the same.

Castle looked at her. "You brought a gun on vacation?"

"Gotta be prepared for anything with a job like mine, Castle." With that, she carefully followed Liberty into the building.

Castle quietly snuck in after them…hitting a creaky floorboard halfway down the entry hall.

Beckett quickly whirled around to glare at him and silently tell him off.

Castle just pulled his foot back. Making it creak again.

Beckett groaned quietly and buried her head in her hand in frustration.

Castle just pinned himself to the wall to make sure he didn't do it again.

Suddenly, there was a slight creaking noise in the next room. Creak, creak, bang.

Castle got an idea. He hit the floorboard again, this time banging it.

Bang, creak, bang.

Beckett and Liberty looked at Castle, realizing that he'd started a communication chain. Beckett gestured at him to keep going.

Castle stepped on the floorboard and then hit it again.

Beckett and Liberty followed the response noises to the living room and kicked the door open, holding up their guns.

A dark-haired man stood there, his foot on a creaky floorboard.

"You wanna explain what you're doing in our victim's house?" Liberty asked.

"Relax. We're on the same case." The man held up a badge. CIA.

The two cop girls instantly put down their guns.

Castle raced in and saw this. "Wow. So, uh…what were we saying?"

The CIA agent looked at him. "That was you? Huh. I wondered why Agent Hill was asking about a polar bear eating a taco."

Liberty looked at him. "'Agent Hill'? Persephone Hill was a CIA agent?"

"Yes, Agent Hill _is _working for us. She's investigating some of the people working at Sunset Studios."

"No, was. She was stabbed and bled out today. She's dead."

The CIA guy processed this. "Oh."

Liberty cautiously approached him and took the badge to inspect it. "It's legit." She handed it back. "So tell me, Agent Finnegan, what were you doing here?"

"Persephone and I were supposed to be meeting here at this time to go over what she'd found so far in her investigations. She called me only an hour ago to schedule this, said she'd found something urgent and she would be here as soon as she possibly could. The floorboards she never got fixed are supposed to act as a messaging system between the two of us, something we fixed up when we were partnered up and assigned the case and she brought me over to talk it over."

"What was so important about Sunset Studios that it required an investigation?"

"We didn't find out yet. When we were assigned the case, they just said to go undercover and we'd know when we found it."

"Wait a minute," Beckett spoke up, "She called you an hour ago?"

Finnegan nodded.

"By any chance, did she hang up in the middle of the conversation?"

"Well, yes, but she's done that often so I assumed she was just in a hurry to get here."

"Because her co-star Orchid Rivers was murdered in the middle of a phone call, too. And the phone was disposed of then as well—no sign of it at the crime scene either time."

It was about this time that Castle noticed one of the drawers in a desk partially cracked open. He sneakily moved to open the drawer and pulled out a paper that was inside.

Liberty, meanwhile, opened a closet door and found a few stacks of comic books. "Wow. Persephone had a thing for _Galactic Girl _comics."

Finnegan smiled. "Little hobby of hers back in high school. When she graduated, we bumped into each other in the streets. I saw a recruiting opportunity and suggested her to my boss. For her 21st birthday, she got a brand new job and a 21-year-old partner/trainer: me. This was our tenth case together and she said we would have to do some celebrating when we solved it." He sighed and stopped smiling. "Guess we're not gonna get that far."

"Don't worry, we're gonna find who did this." Liberty gave him a slight sympathetic look as she started to close the closet door. But before she could, she caught sight of Castle eying a piece of paper. "Castle, what are you doing?"

"This paper. I found it in the drawer." Castle showed it to them. It was nothing but numbers. "It kind of looks like the cipher that was on the back of the Declaration of Independence in _National Treasure_."

Finnegan smiled again. "Yeah, she loved that movie and decided that she would start using that cipher to deliver messages secretly. Every time, her muse was different. One time, she used an old _Lord of the Rings _book—page, line, and letter for the numbers. She did that a lot."

"That's weird," Castle said. He looked over the page. "The cipher on the front of the page has four numbers for letter, not three." He turned the page over. "Same for the one on the back."

Finnegan stopped smiling. "What?" He took the paper. "That's not like her style. She must have gotten a cryptic style, found some other way to cipher them. I wonder what she was using."

"Well, you're her CIA partner, you tell us," said Beckett.

Finnegan looked into the drawer Castle had opened. Nothing else in there. It was just the one paper. "No idea."


	10. CodeCracker

Chapter 10: Code-Cracker

Beckett walked up to Ryan at the police precinct and handed him the cipher paper. "See if you can decode this."

Ryan looked it over. "How do I crack it?"

"Castle thinks it's like the cipher on the back of the Declaration of Independence in _National Treasure_."

"Ooh! I loved that movie!"

"Why am I not surprised?"

"So do we have any proof that's what this is? Or any way to find its vessel?"

"Well, our new friend Finnegan couldn't tell us."

"Finnegan?"

"Apparently, Persephone Hill was a CIA agent. Agent Finnegan was her partner. This was their tenth case together: investigating Sunset Studios."

"Wow. Must be a knife in the back for him."

"Not to mention her."

"Point taken." Ryan looked at the paper. He turned it over. "There's a different cipher on both sides. Same code-cracker or different ones?"

"Finnegan said it was different every time. Maybe that still applies here."

"Well, the fact that there's 4 pieces for a letter on these two instead of 3 really narrows down our choices."

Beckett then looked it over. "On the front…all the first numbers are 66 or under."

"So?"

"So, there are 66 books in the Bible. You don't think the first cipher goes by book, chapter, verse, and letter, do you?"

"I think that's our most likely guess." He sat down at a desk and looked it over.

6-22-14-5

14-32-31-1

10-9-7-4

44-6-3-39

26-39-8-27

There were about 200 of them.

Ryan started looking them up, suddenly curious and anxious to get it done.

_Meanwhile…_

Miley walked into her house. "Guys! I'm home!"

Lilly walked up arm-in-arm with Oliver. "Hey, Miley. How'd it go?"

"Awful. Persephone got stabbed. Now she's dead, too."

"WHAT?"

"Oh, Miley, I'm so sorry," Oliver said.

"It's OK. I'm not that upset. …I'm just worried about Kirsten. She realized that whoever's doing this is likely going after the show and she just panicked and raced off. I think this is all hitting her hard."

Lilly sighed. "Don't worry, they'll straighten it out."

"No kidding. I just hope they don't start bothering me again when it comes to Hannah Montana. I dodged a bullet today." She walked off and went to the barn. "Literally," she added when she was out of earshot.

_Back at the precinct…_

Beckett, Castle, Esposito, Liberty, Alexis, and Finnegan walked up to Ryan.

"So, Ryan, what do you got?" asked Esposito.

"I got this." Ryan held up his work on the code cracker.

Beckett took it and read through it.

"I have found the cause of the awful pranks that were pulled on Sunset Studios last year. They were not pranks, they were sabotage. Ex-con Mike Rogers infiltrated the sets as tech assistant Allan Parrish and has been out to get Archie Collis. But…"

"That's all I could get," said Ryan, "Anything else is on the other cipher."

"So was it or wasn't it this Mike Rogers guy that was involved in this and why?" asked Liberty.

"I don't know, I need the other cipher. But when I tried to decode it with the same method, I got…" He held up his decoding work on the other cipher.

"Difgmalfhcpej"

"I stopped there when I realized there was no way we could make that make sense."

Castle looked at the part that had been decoded. "'Allan Parrish'? Really? That's Robin Williams' character in _Jumanji_! These guys have got to learn to be more specific and less generic with their code names! It's really getting stupid!"

"Seriously?" Alexis asked, "You get this a lot?"

Finnegan looked at the cipher that was yet to be decoded. "Persephone, you little…" He sighed. "Man, what else could she have used that would require a 4-part formula for a cipher like this?"

Castle then got it. That's when it hit him. "_Galactic Girl._"

"What?" Liberty asked.

"That collection of _Galactic Girl_ comics you found in Persephone's closet, maybe that's the key to the rest of the cipher. Issue, page, panel, letter!"

Liberty snatched the cipher and looked it over. "You may be right! We have to get that collection and start decoding!"

_Two hours later…_

Beckett, sitting down, put down the comic book she was sorting through. "It's another e."

Ryan wrote this down.

Castle put down his. "Oh, I got an e."

"And I found an n," Alexis added.

Ryan put this down.

"OK, so what do we have so far?" asked Esposito.

"Uh…" Ryan held up the first part of the cipher. "'I have found the cause of the awful pranks that were pulled on Sunset Studios last year. They were not pranks, they were sabotage. Ex-con Mike Rogers infiltrated the sets as tech assistant Allan Parrish and has been out to get Archie Collis. But…'" He put that down and picked up their work on the other cipher. "'…when I intercepted him on the set, I found the truth when it comes to _Teen Queen_.' That's it."

"What truth? What did she find?" asked Liberty, groaning, "We're nowhere!"

Finnegan sighed. "If only Persephone wasn't the victim. She could easily help us figure this out. She had a certain…imagination for this kind of thing."

Beckett smiled and looked at Castle. That was definitely how the two of them worked.

Finnegan then looked at the murder board with everything they had so far. "OK, so…Orchid was pregnant when she died, but absolutely no one knew but the OB-GYN."

Beckett suddenly sat up straighter.

Castle looked at her, realizing the same thing she did.

"She was shot in the middle of a call with Hannah Montana—"

"The OB-GYN," Beckett suddenly said.

Finnegan looked at her. "What?"

"We didn't talk to the OB-GYN! How stupid can we get?" She raced over to their evidence pile and picked up Orchid's cell phone. "We need to get a trace on this guy. Maybe Doc told someone he shouldn't have. And that person just didn't want the kid to be born."

"And then Persephone, CIA extraordinaire," Castle added, "solves the whole thing. But when she confronts the killer and calls her partner for an interception, things head south."

_Later…_

Liberty walked up to the gang a little later. "They brought Doc in."

"Alright then," said Beckett, getting out of her seat, "So, Castle, ready to spread a little theory on this situation?"

"Sure." Castle got out of his seat and started following the two cop girls to the interrogation room. "I say that maybe Doc was just young enough to have his own little crush on young Orchid. Maybe while Doc was giving her advice, he kept growing more and more jealous of Spencer, so he decided to take out the problem. But Orchid discovered his plot and decided it was time to tell Spencer about her problem and that he would protect her from anything. But before she could warn him, Doc decided to make sure the news never reached home, so he killed his young charge in a jealous rage and disposed of any and all evidence. But he couldn't get anywhere near Spencer within the next 24 hours so he simply stood by and waited. But Persephone, CIA—Agent Hill—decided to take matters into her own hands with her own investigation and found the phone before we ever did and realized exactly what was going on. So when she confronted Doc about the entire situation, she detained him just long enough to call in her partner for help. But Doc wouldn't stand for it and stabbed her and locked her in a closet, taking her phone just as he'd done to Orchid and likely disposing of it in the exact same manner. Now he plans to target Spencer if only he can keep from exposing his secret to us."

That's when the 3 of them reached the interrogation room. They opened the door. "Doc" was a girl. There went the whole carefully thought out theory.

Beckett looked at Castle. "Something to add here, Castle?"

Castle panicked. "You have pretty hair…"

Beckett just looked at him.


	11. DeCipher

Chapter 11: De-cipher

"I just can't believe this whole thing," the gynecologist told Liberty, Beckett, and Castle, "Orchid was…special."

"Well, obviously," Castle muttered.

Beckett gave him a look and then turned to the obstetrician. "Look, Ms. Kipling—"

"Dr.," she said.

"Right. Look, _Dr._ Kipling, did you ever happen to…tell anyone about Orchid's…condition?"

"Oh no. She told me not to tell anyone until she'd told them and I respect her wishes. Call it…doctor/client confidentiality."

"When was the last you heard from her?" asked Liberty.

"The last time she called me, she asked for advice on one little thing and then we got into a conversation because she decided it was time to tell Spencer. I told her it was her decision and that I couldn't really tell her what to do when it came to that. But I did tell her that she would have to tell her husband eventually."

"'Husband'?" asked Beckett, "So she told you that, too?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Did you happen to tell anyone that?"

"…no. No, I think she told me not to tell anyone that either. Said it would get them in trouble with a lot of people because they technically weren't old enough. I'm sorry but anything else she told me about or anything was about that kid. So I can't really help you." She sighed. "I'm just sad we'll never know."

"'Never know'?" asked Liberty.

"About that kid. Who he/she might have turned out to be. Because it never got a chance to be born. That child was alive, and now it's not. That's why I'm so against abortion. I'm one of the only…baby doctors in this city that will absolutely under no circumstances allow any abortion tools in their office. I just can't stand the thought of a murder like that."

Beckett sighed, seeing her point. There was no way this woman would take a chance like that.

That's when the door opened enough to reveal Ryan and Esposito standing there with a sheet of paper. The rest of the cipher!

Beckett looked at Dr. Kipling. "I'm sorry, we have to go. Feel free to let yourself out."

Dr. Kipling nodded and left.

Beckett led Liberty and Castle out of the room and followed Ryan and Esposito off. "Dr. Sarah Kipling. I thought I'd heard that name before: the first anti-abortion gynecologist in LA to not only ban abortion and abortion tools from her office but also to convince every possible person she came across that abortion was morally wrong and should be remade illegal. There's no way someone like that would take the chance of letting anyone near that child, in or out of the womb."

"No kidding," said Esposito, "We ran all her records. Not a scratch on her in her driving record, no sign of anything criminal, and only went to court once in an effort to convince them all to anti-abortion."

"Wow," said Castle, "That's commitment to an idea."

Finally, they reached the table where Alexis was sitting with Finnegan, hearing most of that conversation. "Well, I happen to agree. Anyone who can stand to kill a helpless, defenseless, unborn child is a coldhearted—"

"Let me stop you there," said Castle, knowing she might get carried away.

Finnegan leaned back in his seat. "Allow me to quote Ronald Reagan: 'You know, I notice that ever person for abortion has been born.'"

Beckett smiled. Then she turned to Ryan. "So where do we stand with the cipher? Enough to go in after our ex-con?"

Ryan sighed. "Actually, he's done absolutely nothing illegal."

"What?"

"Turns out all those sabotage pranks were just messing with the lighting and sound equipment, nothing to ever even get anyone hurt. And when it comes to Persephone's mystery message…" He held up both halves of the decoded cipher. "Blah, blah, blah, 'ex-con Mike Rogers,' 'out to get Archie Collis,' 'but…'" He gave Beckett the second half of the message.

Beckett looked at it and read it.

"…when I intercepted him on the set, I found the truth when it comes to _Teen Queen_: he was blackmailed by an anonymous felon and has put aside any and all attempts to take the show and now guards the off-limits prop house that has been deserted for 15 years."

Beckett processed this. "'Blackmailed'? Who would blackmail an ex-con/set-prankster into giving up his antics to guard some deserted prop house?"

"Maybe we should check it out and see for ourselves," said Castle.

_At the studio…_

The gang cautiously entered the old prop house with flashlights lit.

Esposito started poking around a pile of junk. "Nothing here."

Ryan started sorting through a pile of useless junk. "Or here."

Beckett went through a pile of meaningless junk. "All clear."

Liberty kept through a pile of miscellaneous junk. "Nothing but props. Nothing remotely useless to a killer."

"Maybe we're looking for the wrong thing," Castle suggested, looking through a bunch of stuff. He stopped. "Well, well, what do we have here?" He held up a few bags.

"Castle, now isn't the time to be shopping for Alexis' birthday present—" Beckett started.

"No, these aren't prop bags. They're filled with other props." He left the room and emptied the bags onto the bare floor outside. "Someone was taking stuff from here and dropped a few of their treasure chests into the junk piles."

"So now we have more questions," Liberty said, looking through the pile, "1: Who would being doing this? 2: How did they get clearance to, if at all? 3: When did this happen? 4: Why were escorting this stuff out of here? And, last but not least, 5: What we're they searching for and taking?" She started poking through the pile. There were old dolls, compasses, buttons—among other things. Then she saw one thing that really stood out. A music box. She picked it up and opened it. A song started playing, but she couldn't tell what it was. She tilted her head and thought it over. "Is that a Carrie Underwood song?"

Ryan, however, wasn't listening to it. He was focused on something overhead. "Uh, guys? You might wanna look at this…"

"What?" Alexis asked. She looked up, pointing her flashlight to where Ryan's was aimed. She instantly screamed and jumped back, dropping her flashlight.

Castle raced over to his daughter. "What is it? What's wrong?" He quickly followed her gaze. There, overhead, was a dead body, hanging from the ceiling, holding a bag just like the ones he'd found in the junk.

Beckett looked at this and considered the options. "Well…we know what someone was trying to hide in here."


	12. Are We Done Yet?

Chapter 12: Are We Done Yet?

The gang was now in the medical exam lab, standing around the dead body.

The ME was…well, examining. "You're never gonna believe this…this girl didn't die from a hanging."

"What?" Liberty asked, "How did she go down…er, up?"

"If you look closely, you can see a stab wound under her top. Someone killed her, bled her out, and then cleaned her and faked a suicide. All in the prop house. However, the props she was carrying in her bags that the killer didn't bother to dispose of—that I'm having trouble making sense of."

"Well, can you tell what song this music box is playing?" Liberty held up the box and opened it.

He listened for a few seconds… "Is that a Carrie Underwood song?"

"That's what I thought! But no, we ran it and it's an unpublished and/or not-PD song." Suddenly, as she closed the box, her phone rang. She answered. "Hello? Oh, hi, Reg! Finally! You got the trace done? What? You have to be kidding—OK, we'll be at the hospital in ten minutes." She hung up.

"Hospital?" Beckett asked, "What happened?"

"They found Rhonda Reese. Crashed on the side of the highway with a smoking engine and twenty broken bones."

_At the hospital…_

The youngest Reese girl lay in a hospital bed, covered in black sheets as she had requested. Her hands were bandaged to the point where only her fingers and wrists were revealed; her left radius was fractured, as was her right humerus; her left foot and right ankle were beat up, as was her right leg and left thigh; her stomach was still sore and her head was scratched up though fortunately not broken; and, on top of all this, her hair was a mess.

It was in this state she was met by Ryan and Esposito.

"Are you feeling OK?" Ryan asked her, trying to cheer her up.

Rhonda glared at them. "I don't do happy."

Ryan backed off. "Right."

Esposito looked at her. "Can you answer a few questions?"

Rhonda just gave him a glare through her scraggly dark hair.

"Right."

"If this is about Orchid Rivers, I never touched her."

"Well, you wouldn't have had to in order to shoot her."

She smirked, eerily brightening her dark eyes. "Understandable how you would think it was me. Spencer's been just the guy for me for the past few years. He just didn't see it yet. So when he told me he belonged to his _wife_…kind of hit me hard. So, naturally, I went for Derrick instead and determined never to talk to, look at, or even think of Spencer Rockwell ever again. That first part was my biggest mistake. How could I ever see anything in Stab-Me-Now Rush?"

"He attacked you?"

"He let loose, that's for sure. Took everything out at me. But only after we'd met up on the highway halfway to San-Fran. As soon as he got all he wanted from me, he let it go: 'Orchid Rivers is dead, Ronnie. They'll figure out what happened with you and Spencer. They'll come for you. And they'll never find me and Piper because you'll have been so overridden with guilt, you'll have driven yourself off the highway and died slowly and painfully.' So he jumped my transmission, yanked my wheel—drove me off the side of the road and left smirking his head off as soon as he'd admired his good work. He killed her and decided to frame me for it and fake my own suicide…he especially didn't think I'd survive that, let alone tell the cops everything." As she said this last part, she burst out laughing.

"Derrick Rush is real…and he intended to frame you for the murder and fake you killing yourself?" Ryan asked.

"I just said that, didn't I? If I ever see that heartless hobgoblin again, I will tear his still-beating heart out."

Ryan and Esposito looked at each other…and backed their chairs away two feet.

Rhonda just looked at them darkly.

_Later…_

"She's not insane," Ryan said as he rounded up an explanation to the gang, "Maybe a little scary Goth-like but not overly-psychotic."

"Or maybe she's just traumatized from her accident and forging another rational conclusion," Liberty said, "So you can tell she wasn't lying, that doesn't mean it was actually true."

"I don't know about that." Finnegan walked up and slammed a paper on the table. "I thought dead girl looked familiar despite the deterioration from, you know, being dead 15 years. But, hey, she was locked up in a limited-space prop house for all the time, there can only be so much air in that place."

"Well, who was she?" Liberty asked as she began investigating the folder of info.

"Her name was Tiffany Harrow." He held up a picture of the girl who was truly beautiful before she died. "She was wanted for murder exactly 15 years ago. Turns out, she was deeply in love with this one guy who was not exactly unknown to the public—he was a rather famous writer, sort of like Castle. Well, he ended up proposing to his best friend and fellow writer, Julia Short, the night before Tiffany got up the nerve to confess her love. Mr. Writer just didn't have the heart to tell her otherwise but he never thought about her like that, he had been in love with Julia from day one, and he was now in league to marry her. Apparently, Tiffany was then so overcome with anger and passion that she murdered her love's fiancée, then ran off to be with him only to find that he'd thrown all her stuff in—get this—the prop house of the movie his brother was working on. She rushed to get all her stuff back and found a music box that played the song she had written for him that only the two of them had ever heard. As she played it, she hung herself and died thinking of him and the murder her love for him had forced her to commit."

"But she didn't hang herself, we know that," Beckett said.

"Well, we do now. They didn't back then. _Conveniently_, the prop house was sealed for no further use after an incident only a few hours after she 'disappeared.' The next day, people officially declared her missing and one of her friends said 'she had killed a woman; she was probably so overcome with guilt that she decided it was best to disappear.' Well, that man's name was Felix Rush, and he had by then had two children: a 7-year-old girl named Piper and a 4-year-old son named Derrick."

"You're kidding!"

"So that's it!" Castle declared, "Felix Rush was the true killer of Julia Short. He murdered as soon as he had someone with a motive to do so and used it to cover up what he did, then faked the poor girl's suicide so that she would take the fall for him. No one ever thought to look for anyone else and so Tiffany took all the blame and the real crook got off scot-free because he clearly had no motive. Well, he did. And he trained his kids with the same method, which they now used to set up Rhonda Reese for the murder of Orchid Rivers, who Kirsten Collis, her best friend, declared to have 'looked like she'd seen a Ghost' only shortly before leaving. Probably because she had seen another form of dead and was worried for the safety of herself, her husband, and her child, only to be hunted down and murdered by the exact person who didn't want her snooping around where she did. But Persephone Hill went for it and, while investigating the studio where the CIA had somehow found evidence of Tiffany Harrow's case, discovered exactly what was going on and confronted the murderer before he could leave town, only for him to take her down when she was least expecting it: when she was calling her partner for backup. He then stuffed her in a closet, ran for it, and met his 'girlfriend' on the road, where he could set up her fake suicide perfectly, unaware that she would have a chance of not only surviving but telling everything that had happened to the police."

"Looks like we have our case solved! Now all we have to do is catch up to our crooks."


	13. Almost the End

Chapter 13: Almost the End

Miley was alone in her barn, thinking over the events of the week. "OK, so I finally land a TV starring role and I end up co-starring with my worst enemy who I am now forced to not hate, getting called at night to find that one of my other co-stars is being shot to death, moping so hard that I become a suspect in the murder case, and then watching the breakdown of one of the girls I work with as she panics that the killer has caught another and will be coming for us next. Alright, good week."

Lilly shook her head from the bed, where she sat with Oliver. "All of this has been going on? Unbelievable."

Oliver nodded. "You know, I find it hard to believe that someone would go to all the trouble of covering up the murders with the show that they would not only attempt to kill Kirsten on top of it but also actually kill Persephone."

"I know, it's—" Miley then realized something. "Wait…why were they trying to kill Kirsten? What did she do? And when Jocelyn realized Persephone was missing, she called Kirsten before she called Archie even though Archie was right in the next room! And—" She then sat on the bed and heard a beep. "What was that?" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone. "Oh! I still have Orchid's phone! I turned on the camera." She hit a button. "What was I even think—" She then realized what was showing on the screen and froze, her eyes slowly widening.

"Miley?" Oliver asked, "You OK?"

Miley just grabbed her bag and darted off.

_Later…_

Liberty was pacing as she waited for someone to call.

Finnegan waited with Alexis in the next room while Beckett, Castle, Esposito, and Ryan attempted to keep the cop calm as the tension rose for her. "Man, what is taking so long?"

"It can only take so long for two people to be tracked," Alexis answered.

"Well, we need to find them! We need to close the case for Persephone!"

Alexis looked at him. "And Orchid and Tiffany."

Finnegan took a second. "Right, them, too."

"Man, why are you always so—" Alexis then realized exactly what was going on with him. "Finnegan…were you in love with her?"

Finnegan said nothing. He looked down and closed his eyes, sighing it out. Finally, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box, opening it to reveal the diamond ring inside. "I was. When we closed the case, I was going to… I didn't think that… I should've told her when I had the chance!"

Alexis gave him a sympathetic look and finally placed her hand on his. "She knew. She felt the same way. Trust me."

Finnegan looked at her and finally forced out half a smile. "Get your hand off."

Alexis pulled her hand back.

Miley then came running in. "Guys!" She rushed up to the cops. "You'll never believe this. I had Orchid's phone in my back pocket ever since we went to the Reese—"

"Not having much trouble believing. We were wondering where that went." Liberty snatched the phone back. "What's the big deal?"

"Well, weren't we wondering why the killer tried to take down Kirsten after she found Orchid's purse? It's because Orchid had a notebook in there! A notebook of everything she had to do—like a 'to do' list, only the last part, I guarantee you, was 'call cops to investigate prop house'!"

Liberty instantly checked the book in question, which was still on the evidence table. She picked it up and looked. Sure enough, there it was.

"The killer must have been in just the right place to notice it and went for Kirsten to keep her quiet."

Liberty looked at the phone. There was how Miley knew all this: Orchid had taken a picture of the dead body hanging there.

"And there's something else. R—"

Suddenly, the phone rang.

Liberty quickly answered it. "You guys got 'em? YES!" She hung up. "Miley, I'm gonna need you to stay here and hold that thought for a while, we just found our killers." She quickly led the gang out.

Miley stood there. "But it can't wait! I need to tell you that Jocelyn—"

"Jocelyn what?"

Miley whirled around to find Jocelyn standing there.

_Meanwhile…_

Liberty led the gang to an old building. "Derrick and Piper have been here for a few days, keeping an eye on Mike. One of our guys spotted them through the window and called it in. They should still be here getting ready to leave town." She jumped out of the car and started leading the gang off. "One problem: this building has five floors—five _big _floors—and we don't know where they are now. They probably saw someone seeing them and decided it'd be best to hide for a little while. We'll have to split up if we're gonna find them on time." The gang nodded and set to work looking, Beckett guarding Castle and Castle guarding Alexis while everyone else went alone to check the other four floors.

Finnegan had the third floor. He was slowly checking each hallway and room. He carefully and quietly opened one door and looked inside. Dark and empty. He checked the next one. Same results. He went to the next one…and someone suddenly grabbed him and pulled him in, yanking the door shut behind him and locking it.

_Back with Miley…_

Miley was backing away from Jocelyn slightly, but Jocelyn kept following her steps. "It's just that…something was going on at the studio and the gang thought that…"

"What?" Jocelyn asked, "Did they find something to tell who killed Orchid and Persephone?"

"Yeah…and no one ever said it was the same killer." She cautiously took a glance at the white board.

Jocelyn followed her gaze.

There at the bottom, it was circled: "All troops spread out in search for Derrick and Piper Rush – killers must be apprehended!"

Miley finally got up the courage to turn and glare at Jocelyn. "You're Piper."

Jocelyn took one look at her and instantly jumped her, knocking her to the floor and pinning her down.

_Back with Finnegan…_

Finnegan was rushing to pry the door open but nothing could pull it out. He needed the key.

"Looking for this?"

Finnegan turned to see Derrick holding up the key…and throwing it out the window. Lucky for him, Derrick turned back around in time to see him holding up his gun. "Now neither of us can get out."

"Of course not. Everyone will know that you were so overcome with grief over what happened to your precious Persephone. You felt so much anger at her killer that when you finally found me you shot me down. Then you realized that poor Persephone would have never wanted you going down that road and you felt so guilty…you killed yourself, too." He then held out his own gun. "Or maybe it was just the other way around. Not like either of us will be around to say anything about it."

"You'd take me out and then kill yourself so your own cold-blooded sister could get away from a murder scene scot-free? Talk about raised not to feel. What was that they say about the sins of the father?"

"Oh, so you know about me, my sister, and our dearly departed father. So we're even. Because I know everything about you, Finn. Orphaned so young you ended up as a spy. You went around the country looking for one friend and finally found poor Persephone Hill. At first glance, you fell in love with her and found your partner. But you just couldn't tell her how you feel about her. Not in time. So here you are, face to face with the man who killed her…" He then realized how weak Finnegan was becoming with each word until he could barely move. He seized the moment to pin him to the wall. "…and what are you going to do, Finnegan?" He then tore ripped out a knife and bore it into his captive's side…

_Miley…_

Miley attempted to call out for help, but Piper headed her off. Miley quickly kneed her in the gut and got on top of her. "I thought something was wrong when you called Kirsten and not her father. You wanted her to come and meet you outside the studio where you could take her out. You didn't think she'd show up with a bunch of cops!"

Piper quickly flipped her over and got on top of her.

"Persephone found Orchid's phone first! She saw the picture on it and searched the prop house when your blackmailed 'guard' wasn't looking and she figured out everything that had happened!" She flipped Piper over and got on top of her. "She cornered you in the hall and figured out exactly who you are! She confronted you and pinned you down where you couldn't escape, but when she wasn't expecting it, your brother stormed up and killed her, stuffing her in the closet while you called Kirsten to come by and fold _her_ evidence over, too!"

Piper quickly flipped her over again and once more had her pinned down. "You think you're so smart, Nancy Drew. Well, I know everything about you, too! Hannah Montana! You thought you could hide a double life from the master?" She then leaned in close enough to whisper the rest: "How's your mama doing?"

Miley growled fiercely and knocked her back into the wall.

_Finnegan…_

Finnegan quickly knocked his head against Derrick's, staggering him back against the bed behind him. He then pried the dagger from his flesh and dropped it to the ground, quickly putting pressure on his bleeding-but-not-fatal[-just-painful] wound.

Derrick just jumped back up and pushed him onto the bed, pinning him down. He aimed the gun at him. "So this is how it ends for you. Killed by the same guy that killed the girl you love. What do you think of that?" He suddenly gasped.

The dagger was lodged in his stomach.

Finnegan smirked. "I think that if you're going to kill someone, you should kill them and not stand there talking about it!" He threw Derrick onto the ground and kicked him in the head to knock him out. He then leaned out the window enough to shoot the lamppost outside, the intended signal to tell the others he'd found the target and needed help. He then grabbed his side where he was still bleeding…it was coming out stronger now…

Ten minutes later, the gang showed up to find him sitting against the wall, holding himself where he was bleeding and watching in case Derrick woke up.

"What happened?" Beckett asked worriedly.

Finnegan ignored her and looked up through the window at a single star that was shining despite the lights it was drowned in. "…seph…" That's when everything went black…

_Miley…_

Piper jumped up and accosted Miley, pushing her against the table.

Miley pushed her off and against the table opposite it.

Piper quickly grabbed a large book and hit her with it, knocking her to the ground but not seriously hurting her…that is, until she got a gun out. "So poor little Hannah, here alone, caught by one of her so-called 'friends' realized just how much trouble she was causing for everyone and shot herself down. And her dear friend Jocelyn watched but just couldn't save her! …guess you should've stayed poor little Miley, huh?" She started to—

Liberty then stormed in and shot Piper in the shoulder, knocking the gun from her hands and giving her enough time to storm over there and knock her out. She looked at Miley. "Now what was that thought you were holding?"

Miley smirked. "Jocelyn's Piper."

Liberty nodded. "I noticed."


	14. Wrap It Up

Chapter 14: Wrap It Up

Robbie was tending to his daughter with an ice pack. "Are you sure you're OK, Mile?"

"Yes! I'm fine! For the 38th time! Look at me! I'm still alive!"

"Good… WHAT WERE YOU THINKING heading off a murderer on your own?"

"I wasn't! I was heading to call the cops and she showed up! I'm just glad she woke up feeling so woozy that her memory was fogging or else she might have told everyone my secret. I'd like to know how she found out, though." She sighed and got up. "Well, I guess it's OK now that I'm finally safe at home—" She had attempted to walk into her barn and get ready to go to bed only to find Lilly and Oliver there, making out like crazy for the third time that week. She quickly shut the door. "Never mind."

_Meanwhile…_

Finnegan was walking over to his car.

"Hey."

Finnegan turned to see Castle standing there. "Hey."

"Would you mind giving me a ride? I'm afraid if I ride with Alexis and the others, we'll end up spending five more hours buying out Melrose Avenue."

Finnegan smirked. "Get in." He let Castle into the car and then climbed in the driver's seat. As he sat down and slammed the door shut, he groaned and grabbed his side.

"Are you OK? I thought it healed."

"It did, it just keeps acting up when I sit down." He started up the car. "Hand me the map in the glove compartment, would you? I keep forgetting how to get out of here."

While his driver started backing out, Castle opened the compartment…and noticed something in there… "What's this?" He held up the small metallic item.

Finnegan looked. "Hey…" He snatched it. "…I can't believe I almost forget about this! It's the key to the box in the bedroom at Persephone's house. She said if something happened to her I should open it and read what was inside."

"Well, we can probably stop by on the way there, it's only like a street off course."

"In that case, I probably won't be needing the map. I know the way there by heart."

Castle smirked and shut the compartment.

Finnegan drove them off to Persephone's house and finally stopped, walking in and up to Persephone's room. He went over to the dresser and used the key to open the box on top. It opened and began to play "Unapologize" by Carrie Underwood. "Oh, but this one plays a Carrie Underwood song." He smirked and pulled out the note, leaving the box open to play the song as he read.

_Dear Scout,_

_I am so sorry I never told you this before. You are not just a friend to me anymore. Ever since the day we started working together, I've fallen more and more in love with you. If you're reading this, I'm probably dead since I could never get up the guts to tell you this in person. If I'm still alive…I just hope you love me, too. For over a year, I've been hoping to hear a certain four words from you… And if you don't love me back, I'm sorry._

_Of course, the song that's playing right now tells you what I have to say about that._

_I will always love you, Scout Finnegan._

_Persephone Hill._

Finnegan smiled and turned the note over. There was another cipher, this one only three numbers per letter. He instantly knew what it was for and pulled out the _Lord of the Rings _book she never put down. He flipped through it until he finally had the last part of the message:

"I love you. Do you love me? Check 'yes' or 'no.'"

Finnegan smirked. Just like his girl. He quickly gave his answer and put the note back in the box, along with a certain book that wasn't there before. He let the song finish playing and shut the box, taking it and the key with him back to the car.

"What took you so long?" Castle asked.

Finnegan smiled, his eyes brightening to a peak Castle had yet to see. "I had to say 'yes.'" He looked at the writer in his passenger's seat as he climbed back into the car, placing the box and key on the floor and completely ignoring the pain in his side. "I know about you and Beckett."

"What? What about me and Beckett?"

"You can try denying it, but it won't work on me." He smirked at him. "Hold onto her. Don't let her go. 'Cause what time you have together…no matter how long…it's never enough." He then pulled out his keys and put them in the ignition…

…right as Castle climbed out.

Finnegan looked at him. "Don't you still need a ride?"

Castle shook his head. "I can walk from here. After all…I do know the way by heart."

Finnegan threw him one last smirk as he shut the door and walked off. He then started the car and drove off in the opposite direction.

_Later…_

Hannah walked out of the Sunset Studios to find Mikayla leaning against a wall. "Hey, demon girl."

Mikayla…said nothing?

Hannah looked at her. "Hello? You hear me insulting you over here for no comeback? You are still alive, right?"

Mikayla looked at her. "I read in the paper…about what happened to Orchid and Persephone because of the show…" She was actually crying. "Tiffany Harrow was my mother."

Hannah stared at her in shock.

"The paper said that the song in the music box was one she wrote for her 'true love.' It was one she wrote for her daughter after her first husband died."

Hannah just couldn't believe it. Mikayla was an orphan? And she was capable of crying? She looked at her…and slowly made her way over to hug her, letting her cry it out. Clearly, things had changed with them.

_A week and a half later…_

Lilly was still kissing Oliver and holding him tight at the airport. "I'll miss you, Ollie-pop."

"Not as much as I'll miss you, Lilly-pop."

They looked at each other sadly and went back to kissing—

"OK, GAG!"

Siena smacked her boyfriend. "Cool it, Jackson, don't pretend we haven't done that."

Jackson looked at her. "Well, not in front of other people, let alone an entire airport terminal!"

Miley shook her head. "You are one twisted boy, Jackson Stewart. I know what you're thinking!"

Lilly just held her boyfriend tighter. "These last two weeks have been the best of my life. I won't let you go."

Miley smirked. "If you guys are so close, what took you so long?"

"I've been asking that for two and a half years and mine still aren't together."

Miley turned around and smiled. "Hey, Ryan."

Ryan was standing there, getting ready to fly off back to New York. "Hey, Miley."

"You're headed back to New York today?"

"What are the odds, huh?"

Miley looked at her friends and gave them a sign to give her a minute. She followed Ryan back over to his gang. "What's Liberty doing here?"

Liberty smiled upon seeing her. "Had to see my friends off, now, didn't I?"

Miley smirked. "If so, where's Finnegan?"

Liberty hesitated. "He's seeing an old friend." Finnegan was off at the cemetery, seeing off Persephone. "So are you OK?"

"Well, my skull isn't sore anymore, if that's what you're asking."

Liberty smiled. "Viv's OK, too. Landed a few movie roles after we worked everything out. Guess the show and everything ended up being good for us. Makes moms see the error of their forcing-their-girl-into-medical-school ways."

Miley smirked. "Kirsten's doing great, too. Turns out she and Spencer are getting together. And you didn't hear it from me, but their DL record says that now that their schedules are clearing up…they're sort of engaged."

Beckett smiled. "Yeah, sorry about the show getting cancelled."

"It's OK, there'll be others and I always have the movie."

"AHA! I knew it!" Alexis cried.

"What?" Miley then realized her mistake. They'd just talked to Hannah Montana through Miley. "Uh…what are you talking about?"

"Well," Esposito said, "we were thinking over a few things this week. We were wondering: 1) how did you know about Orchid's death before we called you in? 2) How were you so in touch with Hannah and yet never seen with her? And 3) what did Jocelyn/Piper mean when she said 'bet you wish you'd stayed plain old Miley'? Well, we kept brainstorming back and forth and we figured it out: You're Hannah Montana."

Miley was now backing away slightly. "I have no idea what you—"

"Miley…" Liberty smirked. "…there's a blonde wig and a single pink glove in that bag, isn't there?"

Miley considered for a second and finally opened her bag just enough for the six of them to see what was inside. "Guess I should've known better than to try to hide a double life from a bunch of detectives, huh?"

Alexis smirked. "Great, that would be something to tell my friends: 'while I was in LA over winter break, I made friends with my favorite pop star!'"

"What—you're not gonna tell anyone, are you?"

"Trust me, your secret's safe with me."

Miley smiled. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a friend to see off."

Beckett was now attempting to lift her carry-on bags as they started to board the flight. They were a little heavy for her.

"Here, I got you." Castle helped her out.

"Thanks, Castle."

And so he helped her onto the flight. And the whole time, he held onto her.

**THE END…?**

Yay! It's done! Bet you didn't see that end coming, did you? Well, I did it! For a sequel or something, you'd have to watch the shows from where I started to about the end. Especially the last half of that last season of Hannah and the finale to the third season of Castle where a certain writer says a certain three words... I do wish I'd used more of Finnegan but I guess I can always redesign him or something and put him somewhere else later on. Anyway, thank you for reading, please continue reading, check out some of my other stories, and bye!


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